Lakeland Break
Glenridding –
Monday 29th Sept to Thur 2nd October 2014
The Youth
Hostel Association offering me a good deal at Helvellyn YH inspired me to
return to the Lake District to tick off a few
more Fells. My target for the 4 days was
to do around 30 fells.
I left Chester at 9am on Monday
and arrived at the car park at Low Wood, Patterdale at the back of 11am, having
driven some 119 miles. I was away
walking at 11.30am on a lovely morning and completed 8 fells but alas only 2
being Wainwrights that I had not done before.
Visibility was just wonderful and I was so tempted to do some more
mountains but this was to be a four day walking trip and I did need to get back
to my car and find the Youth Hostel up an unsurfaced road a mile or so up a
valley past Glenridding. I was back to
my car at 5.30pm and I arrived safely at my accommodation at 6.15pm.
Here my
first action was to buy a bottle of Jennings Sneck Lifter and this helped me
cook my pasta dish before getting out my maps and work out a couple of routes
for Tuesday. I decision on which one I
would do would be taken on Tuesday morning after assessing the weather
conditions.
Tuesday was
a dry morning but alas a lot of low moving cloud on the fells all around. My decision was made and I was away to the
same car park and I arrived there at 9am and then it was a walk to the village of Hartsop and my first target was Gray
Crag at 697m. As I ascended the steep
lower slopes a shower of rain was seen to be coming my way and with the dense
cloud above I decided to put on my waterproofs.
I arrived at the top at 10.20am.
I returned to the valley bottom beside Hayeswater as its blue waters
were emerging out of the cloud. It was
then up the opposite side and up to the top of The Knott 730m, arriving there
at 12 noon with a very strong wind on the top.
A quick snack as I walked saw me on the slopes of Rest Dodd 697m and at
the top at 12.30pm. My next objective
was The Nab a long way to the north in Martindale Forrest. This is the oldest red stag area in England
and the “Rut” had began as roaring stags could be heard all around. The hairs on the back of my neck always stand
up when first hearing these very frightening sounds but after a while you get
accustomed to the noise that is intermittent and surrounds you. It was a steep decline down the ridge and my
immediate thought was that I needed to come back this way to do my next
fell. Once at the bottom it was a nice
flat walk across moorland and onto the more gentle slopes of The Nab 577m and
arriving there at 1.15pm. I was now in
lovely sunshine, the low cloud had cleared in the area and the sunshine
remained for the rest of the day.
Back on the
top of Rest Dodd at 2.10pm I was now on my way, mainly down hill on a good path
to Brock Crags 561m where I arrived at 2.20pm.
I was taken back with the beauty of Angle Tarn, where I took some
photographs. I thought long and hard of
knocking off another 2 Wainwrights but as one was a long walk I decided both
would be for another day and I commenced my descent back to Hartsop and then a
short distance to my car, arriving at 4.30pm.
I had been walking for some seven and a half hours. I stopped in Glenridding got a few things and
went for an enjoyable pint at The Travellers Rest. Stuart from Edmonton
in Alberta
(he was also staying at the YH) and who had a great day on Helvellyn was
finishing his pint so I gave him a lift back to the YH. After dinner I got my map out once again and
came up with two routes for Wednesday.
So far 14 fells and six new Wainwrights in 13.5 hours of walking – I was
just under target!!
Wednesday
was a duller morning with a slight drizzle but less cloud on the mountain
tops. My decision as to where I was
going was soon made and I was away to park at Aira Force and my target was to
do some 7 fells, 3 of them being Wainwrights, in the north of the Eastern
Fells. I was on the top of my first
Wainwright, Gowbarrow Fell 481m at 10.15am.
I could see rain clouds closing in so alas it had to be the fitting of
waterproofs once again. I did this just
in time as it got very wet and the rain did not clear until I was on the top of
Great Mell Fell 537m at 2pm. I was down
in the valley at 2.30pm and now it was a long walk back to my car in lovely
sunshine. I took the opportunity to go
and look at Aira Force waterfall, the most famous of the Lake
District waterfalls, dropping a distance of 65 feet in lovely
woodland surroundings. Red squirrels are
also found in this area. In Dochray I
passed the Royal Hotel which would be a good base for this impressive
area. I arrived back at my car at 4pm.
Thursday
was my last day and I was up at 6am to a lovely morning and at 8.30am I was
leaving my car in Glenridding and bound for the fell above the village called
Glenridding Dodd 442m, arriving there at 9am to wonderful clear views across
Ullswater a most impressive lake. Early
morning mist could be seen floating above the water and with the rising sun
this would soon clear. At 12.45pm I
arrived on the top of Raise 884m having done 9 fells. Being so early in the day I did want to go on
and do a few more mountains along this wonderful ridge, but all the fells that
lay immediately ahead had previously been visited and I had to think it would
take me a couple of hours to get back to my car and then a further couple of
hours to get back to Chester. I turned
around and started my decent.
I was back
at my car at 2.30pm and back to Chester
at 6.30pm. I set out to do around 30
Fells and I succeeded in doing this number.
Not a bad overall result and more importantly good and enjoyable walking
(26 hours) over four days. Alas the
number of new Wainwrights done only totalled 12, leaving me some 65 still to
climb!
4th October 2014
